Making the Ark

37 Bezalel(A) made the ark of acacia wood, forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high.[a] He overlaid it with pure gold inside and out and made a gold molding all around it. He cast four gold rings for it, for its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark for carrying the ark.

He made a mercy seat of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide.[b] He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat, one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end. At each end, he made a cherub of one piece with the mercy seat. They had wings spread out. They faced each other and covered the mercy seat with their wings. The faces of the cherubim were looking toward the mercy seat.

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Footnotes

  1. 37:1 Lit two and a half cubits its length, one and a half cubits its width, and one and a half cubits its height
  2. 37:6 Lit two and a half cubits its length and one and a half cubits its width

Building the chest containing the covenant document

37 Bezalel made the chest of acacia wood. It was forty-five inches long, twenty-seven inches wide, and twenty-seven inches high. He covered the chest with pure gold inside and out, and made a gold molding all around it. He cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other. He made acacia-wood poles and covered them with gold. He put the poles into the rings on the chest’s sides to use to carry the chest. He made a cover for the chest out of pure gold, forty-five inches long and twenty-seven inches wide. He made two winged heavenly creatures of hammered gold for the two ends of the cover, one winged heavenly creature at one end and one winged heavenly creature at the other. He placed the winged heavenly creatures at the cover’s two ends. The winged heavenly creatures spread out their wings above, shielding the cover with their wings. The winged heavenly creatures faced each other toward the cover’s center.

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